Apparatus for catching and delivering mail-bags.



No.847, 682. PATENTBD MAR.19,1907.

E. A. NASLUND.

APPARATUS FOR GATGHING AND DELIVERING MAIL BAGS. APPLICATION rum) APR.10 1905.

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No.8 17,6 82. PATENTBD MAR. 19, 1907. I

A. NASLUND. APPARATU$ FOR GATOHING AND DELIVERING MAIL BAGS.

APPLICATION FILED APR- 10. 19,05

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' :P'ATENTED MAR. 19, 1907.

V -13. A. MSLUND. A'PP ARATUS FOR GATGHING AND DELIVERING MAIL BAGS.

APPLICATION FILED Arn.1o.19o5.

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ERIC A. NASLUND, or DUNKIRK, NEW YORK.

APPARATUS FOR CATCHING AND DELIVERING MAIL-BAGS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented March 19, 1907.

Application filed April 10, 1905. Serial No. 254.807.

T0 alt whom, it may concern:

Be it known that 1, ERIC A. NAsLUND, a citizen'of the United States,residing at Dunkirk, in the county of Chautauqua and State of New York,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in an Apparatus forCatching and Delivering Mail-B age, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to an improved apparatus for catching anddelivering mailags.

The invention has for its object to provide an apparatus which willdeliver and take up mail'bags at a point below the level of thecari'loor, inclose within a receiving-chamber the bag delivered, andlock the latter within said chamber automatically, to provide anapparatus which is simple and durable in construction, reliable inaction, and in which the number of parts employed is reduced to aminimum, and to provide a crane in which the catching and delivering armis counterbalanced to render the same easy to operate.

Further objects are to provide a combined bag catching and deliveringarm, to provide a removable crane which can be used at either side ofthe car, to provide for automatically diminishing the extent ofprojection of said arm, so that it may easily be swung through thecar-door, and to otherwise improve on mail catchers and deliverers nowin use.

To these ends the invention consists in the construction, arrangement,and combination of parts and devices to be hereinafter described, andparticularly pointed out in the appended claims.

in the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a portionof a car provided with my improved bag catcher and deliverer and alongitudinal section of the bag-receiver, the latter being open toreceive the mail-bag carried on the crane and support a bag to be takenup by said crane. Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the crane afterhaving deposited a bag in the receiver and taken up the bag supported onsaid re ceiver. Fig. 3 is aside elevation of a portion of a car, showingthe arm of the crane elevated and swung into the car. Fig. 4 is avertical section taken on the planes indicated. by line y y, Fig. 1.Fig. 5 is a top plan view of the receiver with the cover open. Fig. 6 isan enlarged central vertical section taken on line .2 .2, Fig. 2, theinner end portion of the arm only being shown. Fig. 7 is an enlargeddetached perspective view of the upper bearing or support for theupright of the mail-crane. Fig. 8 is an enlarged perspective view of thelower bearing or support for the crane having combined therewith abufier to take up the jar of the arm when lowered and when taking up anddelivering a mail-bag. Fig. 9 is a detached perspective view of thebag-support which serves to control the opening and closing of thereceiver.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, like numerals of referencerefer to like parts in the several figures.

The numeral 1 designates a car to which the catching and deliveringcrane 2 oi my improved apparatus is applied, and 3 designates thebag-receiver supported on the ground to one side of a track or betweentracks. In the latter case the receiver may be lengthened and theoperating parts duplicated and reversed to form a double-ended receiver.

The catching and delivering crane comprises an upright or post 4,located adjacent the car-door jamb and a short distance from the outeredge of the floor to permit of opening and closing the car-door. Saidupright is hollow and supported on a casting 5, having a gudgeon 6entering the lower end of the upright. At the upper end of the car-dooropening a socket 7 is secured, which is open at one side, as at 8, andin the parallel walls 9 of said socket are aiined openings, into which apin 10 is placed whose i'unction is to retain the upper end of theupright in said socket. By fastening the upright in this manner it canbe quickly detached and placed on the other side of the car, there beingsimilar cast ings or fittings 5 and 7 respectively arranged incorresponding relation to the opposite cardoor opening, therebyproviding ror the use of the apparatus on the car irrespective of thedirection of travel.

A mail-bag arm or, more specifically, a combined delivering and catchingarm 11 is slidably and rotatably held to the upright and comprises asleeve portion 12, surrounding the upright and having a radial extension13, hollowed out to form a pocket 14 and the arm proper, 15, which hasits inner end held within the said pocket and pivotally attached.therein at the upper inner corner, so as to allow said arm a verticalswinging movement to a limited extent. The limit of said movement isgoverned by the difference in the relative angles of the inner and uppersides of the arm proper and the inner and upper walls of the pocket 14:,a space being either between the inner side of the arm and the innerwall of the pocket or between the upper side of the arm and the upperwall or the pocket, depending as to whether the sleeve is elevated orlowered on the upright.

Within the upright is a counterbalance in the form of a cylindricalweight 16, which is movable in said upright and suspended from a cord17, passing over a pulley 18, jeurnaled on said upright and positionedwithin a slot in the latter, so as to extend partly within and partlywithout said upright. Said cord has its opposite end attached to the bagcatching and delivering arm, as at 19, and with said counterbalancerenders said arm easy to raise and lower.

The bag catching and delivering arm. is held in an inclined position atall times, and its outer end when lowered is below the level of thecar-floor and extends to the center of the bag-receiver 3, which must belocated a certain distance from the center of the track over which thecar passes in order to avoid all projecting parts 0; passing trains. Thedistance between the upright and the distant jamb of the door-opening ismuch smaller in some cars than the distance between said upright and thecenter of the bag-receiver when said upright is opposite the latter, andtherefore when the catching and delivering c-illl is lowered on theupright it comes in contactwith a rubber or other suitablecushioningbufler 20, held within flanges on the casting 5, and is causedto swing upward on its pivotal point toward a line perpendicular to theupright until stopped by the upper face thereof striking the upper wallor the pocket 14. Said butler serves to take up the jar and renders thedevice substantially noiseless.

\Vhen it is desired to swing the catching and delivering arm into thecar, it must be elevated to bring the outer end thereoil above thecar-floor, and in so doing the pivoted portion of the arm continues tobear against the buffer while the sleeve portion is passing through theinitial portion of its upward movement, and during such action thepivoted portion swings downward and inward until the inner end of thesame comes in contact with the inner wall of the pocket 14. During thismovement the distance on a horizontal plane between the outer end orsaid arm and the axial line of the upright is considerably lessened, andthe arm as soon as entirely elevated above the floor can be convenientlyswung inward through the door. On many cars a perfectly-rigid arm can beused, as the door-openings are of suliicient width to permit of swingingthe arm into the car without providing means to lessen the distance on ahorizontal plane between the support and the outer end of the arm, whilein some cars I have found it necessary to provide for a greatercompensation than could be given by a d wice C(lllSilLtltllQtl in therelative proportions and measurements shown. This, however, can beeasily accompfished by changing the relative angles of the inner andupper walls of the pocket l l and the inner and upper sides of thepivoted portion ol the arm.

The construction herein shown merely a representative one, and thepurposes [or which it is designed an 1 accomplished in various otherways without departing l roln the fundamental principles involved.

The outer end of the bag catching, and delivering arm is provided w itha catching device 21 and a delivering device 213, arranged forward ofand. in rwnr of said arm, respectively. The catching device comprisestwo parallel forwardly-extending arms 23, separated by an interveninglug-receiving space 24, the upper of said arms being biturcuted toreceive an elbow lock-lair 35, pivolullv attached to the outer endthereot and adapted for movement in a vertical plane. The normalposition oi the lock-bar is that shown in Fig. in which it has onemember ex tending horizontally from the end ol the upper arm and itsother member extending vertically to the. outer end of the lower arm. itbeing held in this position by a spring 20, secured to the upper arm andbearing with its end against the angular portion oi" said lock-armdirectly above its pivotal point.

The delivering device 132 likewise rompriscs two parallel arms i7, whiehextend, however, in an opposite or rearward dire tion. The upper ofthese units has pivotally attached thereto a retainer-loop 3R, which isdesigned to engage the low er ot said arms and retain a mail-bag it)thereon. Said loop engages the lower arm 27 wit h snl" l'ieientfrictional (outset to prevent maidental disengagement of the mail-bagl'rom said arm. in placing the maibbag in the delivering device it ishung onto the. lower arm with the ends suspended, as shown in Figs. 3and l. By preference the delivering dev'ce and the catching device arelormed integrally with the pivot portion ol the mailbag arm.

it is to be noted that by reason ol the pivoted portion oi" the bagcatching and deliver ing arm being pivotallv attached to the s idablesleeve portion n :ll its upper end and having its inner end bearingagainst said sleeve portion throughout its length the tendency of thesame is to pull on the upper end of said sleeve portion and exertpressure against the lower end theirol, which tends to cause binding oftl'le-sleeve portion on the upright and hold the arm in any position towhich it may be elevated. lly relieving the sleeve portion of thistendency the arm can be quickly and easily r: ised and lowered.

The receiver 3 is in the form of a shallow box or receptacle, bypreference of rectangular formation and closed on all sides with a gateor cover 30, having collapsible sides consisting of a rigid section 31and, a swinging section 32. The cover is-fulcrumed between its ends, asat 33, and has one end weighted, as at 34, to check the closing of thelonger portion lying on the opposite side of the fulcrum-point. Abag-support 35 is pivotally secured to'the cover and comprises inrepresentative form a yoke or U-shaped casting 36, having at the upperends of its arms forwardlyextending bars 37, onto which the mail-bag 38is laid, with the ends thereof hanging down on opposite sides, and

a shank or lever portion pivotally aflixed to the top of the cover, asat 39, with the end thereof extending into the receiver through a slot40 in said cover. A cross-bar 41 connects the inner ends of the swingingsection 32 and has secured thereto the inner end of the bag-support 35or, more properly, the inner end of the lever portion of thebag-support. The outer ends of said swinging sections of the cover areconnected to the rigid sections thereof by links 42. Secured to the topof the cover are bag-retainers in the form of upwardly-curved andforwardly-extending bars 43, onto which the end 100 s or straps 44 ofthe mail-bags are to be hoo (ed, as clearly shown in Fig. 1, said bagserving as a connection between the bag-support and the cover to holdthe latter open.

As shown in Fig.1, the bag-receiver is open to receive the bag carriedon the delivering device of the mailcrane, the free end of the catchingand delivering arm being arranged to clear the cover' As the cranepasses the receiver the mail-bag on the delivering device comes incontact with the elevated end edge of the cover and is held againstfurther movement with the car. This action causes the lower arm of thedelivering device to be withdrawn from beneath the bag and theretainer-loop 28 to be forced out of contact with the said arm. T heforward movement of the car under speed causes the detached bag to bedelivered through the open end 45 of the cover into the receiver.

The arm of the crane immediately after the bag is detached from thedelivering device passes over and between the yoke portion of thebag-support 35, with the two arms of the catching device passing aboveand below the center portion of the bag-support thereon, so as to.straddle the same. When the arm of the crane comes in contact with thebag to be taken up, the loops 44 on the latter are disengaged from thebag-retainers 43, and the lock-bar 25 is moved from its receiving oropen position, (shown in Fig. 1,) to its locked position, (shown in Fig.2,) the bag held on the catching device being thus locked onto thelatter against accidental disconnection.

When the mail-bag is removed from the bag-support 35, the cover closesautomatically, the swinging sections of the sides swingingwith theirouter ends through slots 46 in the cover and the bag-support swingingagainst the cover, as'shown in Fig. 2, provision being made to permitthe forwardly-extending bars 37 of the support to enter the receiver byforming in said cover slots 47, through which said bars are passed. I Asthe cover closes a spring-lock 48 of any suitable form locks thereceiver. This lock may have a springbolt 49, which is adapted to entera notch 50 in one of the sides of the cover.

By providing collapsible sides for the cover a shallow receiver can beused, thereby avoiding the necessity of embedding the receiver in theground, which would be objectionable by reason of water oozing throughthe crevices and in cold weather freezing and rendering the apparatusinoperative. With this construction the receiving-opening 45 in thecover can be made considerably larger than the height of the receiver.

As the catching and delivering arm comes into action to deliver or takeup a mail-bag a violent contact is made and the arm given a sudden ar.The cushioning-buffer 20 is therefore provided with a verticalextension' 51, against which the side of the arm bears and serves totake up the jar imparted thereto. In this manner the noise incident todelivering and taking up the maihbags is reduced to a minimum, as isalso the jar to which the crane is subjected.

Many alterations in construction, form, and arrangement of parts may beresorted to without departing from the scope of my invention, orsubstitute parts or devices may be employed by meansof which similarfunctions or'purposes may be carried out, and such substitution 1 do notconsider as departures from my invention, but lay full claim to thesame.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is- 1. The combinationwith the car, of an arm projecting therefrom and having at its outer enda pair of forwardly-projecting arms and a pair of rearwardly-projectingarms, serving respectively as a catching device and a delivering devicethe arms of each pair being arranged one above the other and separatedby an intervening space.

2.'The combination with the car, of an arm projecting therefrom andhaving at its outer end a pair of forwardly-projecting arms and apair-of rearwardly-projecting arms, and retaining devices between thefree ends of each pair of arms.

3. The combination with the car, of an arm projecting therefrom andhaving at its outer end two forwardly-projecting arms and tworearwardly-projecting arms, an elbow lock-bar for theforwardly-projecting arms,

and a retainerloop for the rearwardly-projecting arms.

4. The combination with the car, of an arm projecting therefrom andhaving at its outer end two forwardly-projecting arms arranged one abovethe other and separated by an intervening space and two similarly-anranged rearwardly-projecting arms, an elbow lock-lever pivotally securedto the upper of the forwardly-projecting arms, and a loop pivotallysecured to the upper of the rearwardly-projecting arms and adapted toengage the lower of said arms.

5. In a mail catching and delivering device, an arm having a pair offorwardly-projecting arms, an elbow lock-bar pivotally sccured to one ofthe forwardly-projecting arms, a spring serving to hold said lock-baragainst accidental movement, and a loop pivotally secured to one of therearwardly-projecting arms and adapted to embrace the free end of theother of said arms.

6. The combination with. the car, of a vertical support secured to theear, and a projeeting arm slidable on said support and embodying meansto deliver the mail while the car is in transit.

7. The combination with the car, of a vertical support secured to thecar, and a proj ecting arm slidable on said support and embodying meansto catch the mail while the ear is in transit.

8. The combination with the car, of a vertical support secured to thecar, an arm pro jecting from the car and being slidably and rotatablymountedon said support, and a mail-catching device at the outer end ofsaid arm.

9. The combination with the car, of a support secured thereto, and amail-bag arm secured to said support and comprising a sleeve slidable onsaid. support and a pivoted arm portion.

10. The combination of a car, of a support secured thereto, and'amail-bag arm slidable and rotatable on said support and comprising asleeve on said support and an arm portion pivotally secured to saidsleeve.

11. The combination with the car having an opening, a support secured tothe car, a mail-bag arm rotatable on said support, and means to lessenthe distance in a horizontal plane between the support and the outer endof said arm to permit of conveniently swinging the latter through saidopening.

12. The combination with. the car having an opening, an upright securedto the car, a mail-bag arm rotatable on said upright and comprising 'asleeve and an arm portion piv otally secured to said sleeve so as toswing in a vertical plane.

13. The combination with the car having an opening, of a cylindricalupright secured to the car and a mail-bag arm slidable and rotatable onsaid upright and comprising a sleeve on the latter having an extensionproviding a downwardly and outwardly opening pocket and an arm portionpivotally secured in said pocket and having its inner and upper sidesarranged at a more acute angle than the angle of the top and inner wallsof said pocket.

14. The combination with the car having an opening, of an uprightsecured to the car, a mail-bag arm slidable on said upright, and meansfor swinging said arm toward a horizontal plane when lowered onsaid'upright.

15. The combination with the car having an opening, of an uprightsecured to the car, an inclined mail-bag arm slidable on said upright,and means for causing said arm to swing toward a horizontal plane as itapproaches its lowermost point on the upright.

16. The combination with the car having an opening, of an uprightsecured to the car, a mail-bag arm slidable and rotatable on saidupright and having a pivoted inclined portion adapted to come in contactwith the floor of the car before said arm reaches its lowermost point,thereby forcing the free end of said arm upward and outward.

17. The combination with the ear, of a vertical support secured to thecar, a mailbag arm slidable on the support, and a counterbalanceconnected with said arm.

18. The combination with the car, of a hollow upright secured to thecar, a weight in said. upright, a mail-bag arm slidable on said upright,and a cord connecting sad weight with the mail-b arm.

19. The combination with the car, of a hollow upright secured to the carand having an opening near its upper end and a pulley in said opening, aweight in said upright, a mailbag arm slidable on said upright, and acord passing over said pulley and. having its ends connected to saidweight and the mail-bag arm.

20. The combination. with the car, of an upright removably secured tothe car, a mailbag arm. rotatable and slidable on said arm, and acushioning-builcr on the car against which said arm is held whenlowered.

21. The combination with the car, of a mail-bag arm held to the carabove the iloor thereof and having its outer end extending below thelevel of said floor, and means for elevating said arm to bring the outerend above the floor and permit of drawing the same into the car.

22. The combination with the an, of a hollow upright, a gudgeon securedto the floor of the car over which said upright is placed, a socketsecured to the car into which the upper end of the upright is removablyheld, and a mail-bag arm on said upright.

23. The combination with the car, of an upr ght secured to th car,mail-bag arm 1 slidablc on said upright, and a cushioningl bufl'ercomprising a horizontal portion and a vertical portion against which thebottom and one. side of the mail-bag arm bear to relieve the same of ar.

24. A mail-bag receiver, comprising a receptacle, and a pivoted coverhaving depending sides.

25. A mail-bag receiver, comprising a receptacle and a hinged coverhaving collapsible sides.

26. A mail-bag receiver,comprising a re ceptacle, and a cover pivoted tothe receptacle and having depending sides, each side comprising a rigidsection and a movable section. 27. A mail-bag receiver, comprising a receptacle, a top pivoted between its ends to said receptacle and havingcollapsible depending sides formed in sections, and links connectingsaid sections.

28. A mail-bag receiver, comprising a re ceptacle, a top pivoted betweenits ends to said receptacle and having collapsible depending sides, eachside comprising a rigid section and a movable section connected with sad rigid section, and links connecting said sections and adapted to causethe movable sections to swing between the rigid sections when closingthe receiver.

29. In a mail-bag receiver, the combination of a receptacle, a gatetherefor, and a mail-bag support embodying means to hold said gate openwhen supporting a bag.

30. In a mail-bag receiver, the combination of a receptacle, a gatetherefor, and a mail-bag support secured to said gate and embodyingmeans to hold the latter open when supporting a bag.

31. In an apparatus for catching and delivering mail-bags, thecombination with a catching device and a delivering device, of areceiver, means for supporting a mail-b ag on said receiver and forautomatically closing the receiver when the b ag on the receiver istaken up by the catching device.

32. In a mail-bag receiver, the combination of areceptacle, a coverpivotally attached between its ends'to said receptacle, a mailbagsupport on said cover, means on said cover for retaining a mail-bag onsaid sup port, and means for causing sa1d cover to close when themail-bag is removed from' said support.

33. In a mail-bag receiver, the combina tion of a receptacle, a coverpivotally attached to said receptacle, a mail-b ag support pivotallyheld, connections between said support and the cover for opening thelatter on swinging the support into an upright position, and for causingsaid support to swing into a horizontal position when the cover closesby gravity, and a mail-bag carried on said support and having its endsattached to the cover, said mail-b ag serving to hold the support andsaid cover elevated.

34. In a mail-bag receiver, the combination of a receptacle, a coverpivoted between its ends to said receptacle and having depending sidescomprising fixed sections and movable sections, links connecting theouter ends of the movable sections with the fixed sections of saidsides, a rod connecting the inner ends of the movable sections, a mail-bag support pivotally aflixed to the cover and having a depending portionattached to said rod and a yoke portion lying outside of the cover, amail-b ag on said support having its ends attached to the cover, saidcover and said support being adapted'to swing into a horizontal positionon removing the mail-b ag from said support.

35. In a mail-bag receiver, the combination of the receptacle, a coverpivotally secured to said receptacle and normally closed, and a mail-bagsupported on the cover and serving to hold the same open.

36. In an apparatus for delivering mail, the combination with amail-delivering device and a mail-catching device, of a receivercarrying a bag to be taken up by said catching device and comprising areceptacle and a movable cover for said receptacle, said cover whenelevated providing a receiving-opening larger than the height of thereceptacle.

37. The combination of a car having an opening in its side, and amail-bag arm extending outward through said opening and having its outer endbelow the lower end of said opening.

38. The combination of a car having an opening in its side, and amail-bag arm eX- tending-outward through said opening and having itsouter end terminating in a plane below the floor of the car.

39. The combination with the car, of a horizontally-swinging arm havingits outer end terminating in a plane below the floor of the car.

40. The combination of a car having an opening in its side, and amail-bag arm having a mail-catching and a mail-delivering device, saidarm being arranged for movement outward to bring said catching anddelivering devices below the lower end of said opening.

41. The combination with a relatively stationary element provided withcatching and delivering devices, of a traveling element provided withcoacting catching and delivering devices, a verticailyunovable frame onthe traveling element carrying the catching and delivering devicesthereof, and means for raising and lowering said frame.

In testimony whereof I have aHiXed my signature in the presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

ERIC A. NASLUND.

Witnesses:

MAY F. SEWERT, EMIL NEUI-IART.

